


Whumpmasinjuly Day 15: Storm

by Yesimevil



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen, I’m fed up with tumblr, PTSD, Storms, Whumpmasinjuly, but it’s still a hellsite, dont get me wrong I love that hellsite, whumpmasinjuly day 15
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25298644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yesimevil/pseuds/Yesimevil
Summary: There’s a storm at Atlantis and Ronon has flashbacks to his time as a solider and running from the Wraith
Relationships: Ronon Dex & Teyla Emmagan & Rodney McKay & John Sheppard
Kudos: 14





	Whumpmasinjuly Day 15: Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Fuck I suck at summaries anyway here’s wonderwall

Ronon hated storms. Storms took away his sense of hearing and left him exposed to the Wraith, they meant memories of explosions and war and death and running, surviving, killing- 

Another clap of thunder shook the base, causing him to jump. His swallowed thickly, grabbing his sheets and turning over. This was the largest storm Atlantis had ever experienced, but he could survive a little thunder. Lightning blinded the sky and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to brace himself for the earsplitting crash that followed. He fought the urge to hide under the covers like a child as the following bang seemed to shake all of the base. Another crash and his fellow soldiers flew into the air, blown to bits and-

He growled, flinging himself out of bed and marching into the hallway as he resigned himself wander around until the storm ended. The memories couldn’t get him as easily if he was constantly moving.

Eventually he made it to the cafeteria, but froze in the doorway, seeing someone else already sitting at a table, bent over a tablet. He briefly considered turning tail and retreating back to his bed, but the head lifted and smiled, waving him over. 

“I uh... I didn’t think anyone else was up,” Ronon admitted a bit sheepishly. Rodney gave a grin.

“Are you kidding? With this kind of thunder?” He huffed a laugh. “I’m surprised the whole base isn’t up.” Ronon dropped into the seat opposite his friend with a small amount relief running through him at the prospect of not having to be alone. Rodney gave him a quick look that seemed to be too observing as he jumped at the next menacing explosion, but said nothing. 

Shortly after, Teyla wandered in and grabbed a piece of cake from the spread of snacks that stayed out at night. She smiled warmly as she approached the table.

“I hoped I would find one of you here,” she said as she dropped into the seat next to Ronon, “I am afraid that sparring before bed makes me wake in a hunger, and eating alone can be rather lonely.” Ronon nodded, his leg beginning to jitter under the table. Eventually John marched in, looking irritable. 

“Damn storm- it’s a pity I can’t shoot it,” he grumbled as he dropped himself into the last seat unceremoniously. Ronon huffed in agreement, gripping the edge of his chair in an iron grip as the thunder crashed again. 

They sat together, in silence for the most part. Rodney was absorbed in his tablet, John slouched in his seat, occasionally making conversation with Teyla as she enjoyed her piece of cake. She had offered Ronon some, but his stomach was twisted in too many knots for him to even think about eating it. He had taken to playing with one of his many knives- an unfortunate nervous habit. 

At any other time a gathering of the sort would have been relaxing, especially with the ambiance of the rain, if it wasn’t for the cursed crashing sound. It kept Ronon on edge, kept him tense as he tried to hide the involuntary flinches he gave with each rolling bang. He could feel his friends’ concern bleeding over, making him all the more determined to hide his reactions.

“Every time I’m about to drift off... every single time...” John made an annoyed explosion sound as he lay slumped in his seat, half asleep. Teyla laughed softly as she finished off her cake.

“It does seem to be getting louder,” she said sympathetically. The thunder bellowed above them, as if to prove Teyla correct. Ronon gripped his knife tighter and his leg bounced faster as his heart seemed to rattle from the force of thunder. Rodney looked up from his tablet again, his eyes set.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” He asked. Ronon blinked a few times before emitting a “huh?” Rodney rolled his eyes, but not unkindly.

“You’re shaking the table. You’ve been flinching at the thunder the entire time you’ve been sitting here, which,” he held up a hand to stop Ronon from protesting, “I did not mention because it didn’t seem like any of my business, and I thought it was just catching you off guard. Obviously it’s something more than that, so spit it out.” Teyla and John were watching him closely, clearly trying to act like they weren’t. Ronon glowered at Rodney for exposing him.

“I just don’t like thunder,” he muttered. John snorted, his eyes studying Ronon carefully.

“No shit, Sherlock,” he remarked, hauling himself upright in his chair. Ronon’s heart stuttered at the next scream of thunder, the explosion of the bombs as they fought a losing battle, and Melena- helping him, holding him, reaching for him as the wall-

BOOM! The next clap of thunder was louder than the others combined- at least that’s how it seemed to Ronon as he doubled over the table with a strangled gasp as his lungs seemed to deflate into themselves.

“You okay? What’s wrong?” He heard faintly from John. Ronon swallowed, his mouth dry as he stared at the wall of the cave, huddled in the corner, praying he’d make it through the storm alive, slipping as the Wraith fought him, leering in satisfaction and anticipation-

Something grabbed him and he reacted instantly, grabbing it by the throat with strained yell before it could- before- 

“It’s me, it’s John.” Everything slapped back to reality at the hoarse, desperate whisper. Suddenly he was in the cafeteria, gripping John- _his friend, his brother-_ by the throat. He dropped him like he had been burned, horror rising in him _you could have killed him_ and he stumbled backwards as his other friends hurried to where John knelt gasping for air _you hurt him you almost killed him-_

Ronon tripped over the chair, landing painfully on his side at the next peal that shook the sky. He had to get the tracker out- the Wraith would be here soon- _where was his knife?_ He reached for it in a frenzy, but someone got there first.

“Okay, we’re not gonna do that- uh have you ever heard about hockey?” Rodney asked a bit nervously. Ronon didn’t respond, his eyes getting further away with each second _what did “hockey” have to do with anything didn’t they know he was dangerous-_ “Uh, well, it’s a sort of game- we call it a sport, and it’s pretty big in Canada. The- the point of the game is to hit a disc into a net-”

Thunder once again roared triumphantly, bringing Ronon cowering to his knees pathetically, his hands reaching up and gripping his hair in an attempt to ground himself.

“No- hey, it’s okay- don’t do that,” Rodney followed him down, his voice gentler than Ronon had ever heard. His hands were removed from where he had entangled them in his hair, and he felt too weak to resist.

“Anyway, uh, hockey. There’s two teams and each team gets six players. It’s played on ice with sticks and a disc that gets hit back and forth into nets. Got it so far?”

Ronon understood none of what Rodney was spewing at him, but nodded anyway and clung to the sound of his voice like an anchor. Rodney raised the volume of his voice whenever a clap of thunder attacked, not leaving time for the memories to take hold and drag Ronon down. 

Eventually Rodney helped him up- still talking- and started leading casually, talking as though they were taking a stroll on a nice day. The destination turned out to be a room- John’s room, he registered faintly. They sat on the floor, Ronon’s leg bouncing at breakneck speed, his head down, but still hanging on to the sound of his friend’s voice.

The door opened and Teyla came in and something soft and warm was wrapped around his shoulders snugly; evidently Teyla had left to gather blankets. And pillows apparently, judging by the pillow she handed him. Despite the raging storm, Ronon could feel himself getting tired. After a while his eyes began drooping, and someone gently pushed him down into a sleeping position, adjusting his blanket over him. His eyes closed, but opened a second later as a flash of panic shot through him.

“The tracker-” he half-mumbled, desperately reaching for his back.

“It is not there anymore,” Teyla said gently, directing him back down again, “you are safe, they cannot find you.” He closed his eyes, exhaustion taking over, and let himself drift off to sleep, even as the storm yelled outside. He was safe, he was surrounded by his family. He was safe.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed this it's pretty short but then again I wrote it for tumblr which for some reason makes everything seem so much longer


End file.
